Top 10 Forehands in history?

Le Master

Professional
Fed´s FH needs too much set up time.
One reason why the old Agassi could put pressure on him.

What a ridiculous, wrong statement. Federer not only has some of the fastest racquet head speed on tour, but he also takes the ball far earlier than nearly everyone. Most players describe playing Federer as "smothering" because of how quickly the ball is back on their side of the court. Agassi had a similar style of play in which he took the ball very early to apply pressure.
 

NatF

Bionic Poster
Using his streaks of finals and semi's is a poor way to judge whether his FH is GOAT. And I think you know it.

You said his forehand doesn't work so well in he biggest matches. He also has an excellent record in slam finals. There's also the streak of 24 finals won stretching from 2003 to 2005.
 

tipsa...don'tlikehim!

Talk Tennis Guru
It's a very tough question, of course i would put guys like:
Federer
Nadal
Gonzalez
Del Potro
Joachim Johansson
so that's 5 .... but i don't know 80's enough to give more names... definitely have to put Sampras in the list i guess so that's 6 ! :)
 

Messarger

Hall of Fame
You said his forehand doesn't work so well in he biggest matches. He also has an excellent record in slam finals. There's also the streak of 24 finals won stretching from 2003 to 2005.

Uhm, I said we have to also consider the UE's he makes in the biggest matches, as evident by all the break points he waste against Nadal. Granted, not all of those errors are off the FH, but it has its fair share as well. You cant justify his forehand as GFHOAT by using his 23 match semi final streak and record in slam finals. Unless of course he only hit FHs in those matches, which he didn't.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
forcing unforced errors? I know he's good but, really? On a more serious note, the main thing I look when considering such things is how well a player can use the stroke (fh in this case) to dictate points under extreme pressure like bp down or serving out a set. Federer's forehand is definitely up there, but most people tend to forget the times his FH screws up. It's as if Federer and ******** are two different players. Newsflash: they are one and the same.

Im implying that the number of UEs from Feds opponenets are actually forced due to the 'might' of the incoming shot. In short it may be underrepresented and unobserved while the UE of Feds forehand are easier to detect.
Hence my argument.

I am not partial when it comes to numbers and facts. Everyones entitled to his / her opinion but never to his/her own facts.

Just weigh pluses vs.minuses. period.
 
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captainbryce

Hall of Fame
I agree Blake should not be in the list... Soderling don't know really, but Gonzalez, wow!! unreal forehand.

http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen13/story/_/id/9610028/us-open-james-blake-dream-became-reality

Looking back, what was almost overlooked in the wake of that 2002 match was just how well Blake actually played. His forehand remains one of the best in the game, a force of will that can scrape off the edge of the baseline. When it was on, Blake was formidable.

"I've always been a big fan of James," said Roger Federer. "I think [his forehand] ranked one of the greatest shots out there because his take back is extremely quick. You cannot see where he hits it. He can also hit it moving backwards or forwards. He can pull the trigger. So you're never quite safe when you go to that side. It doesn't matter if it's pulled out to the forehand or inside out forehand."
 

Messarger

Hall of Fame
Im implying that the number of UEs from Feds opponenets are actually forced due to the 'might' of the incoming shot. In short it may be underrepresented and unobserved while the UE of Feds forehand are easier to detect.
Hence my argument.

I am not partial when it comes to numbers and facts. Everyones entitled to his / her opinion but never to his/her own facts.

Just weigh pluses vs.minuses. period.

Shouldn't that then be classified as forced errors? I mean, if he forced them.

Yup, I agree. Weight the plus vs minuses. Now read this thread again and tell me how many people are weighing the minuses when presenting their cases that Player X's forehand should be GFHOAT.
 

tipsa...don'tlikehim!

Talk Tennis Guru

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GoaLaSSo

Semi-Pro
I am a little biased because Blake is one of my favorite players, but his forehand was one of the most destructive shots in tennis when he was playing well.

I am not necessarily saying Blake's forehand was the best overall, but on his good days the players feared his forehand. He hit his forehand flatter and faster on a more consistent basis than anyone I have ever seen. Because of this, it is obvious he is not going to have the best consistency.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Should we include Steffi Graf in the discussion? Not so much comparing it to the top male FHs but more as one of the most dominant FHs of all time in the women's game.
 

Alex Chou

New User
Federer.
Federer has:
1. best running forehand
2. best slice forehand
3. best running smash lob forehand
4. amazing passing-shot maker
 

Flash O'Groove

Hall of Fame
Uhm, I said we have to also consider the UE's he makes in the biggest matches, as evident by all the break points he waste against Nadal. Granted, not all of those errors are off the FH, but it has its fair share as well. You cant justify his forehand as GFHOAT by using his 23 match semi final streak and record in slam finals. Unless of course he only hit FHs in those matches, which he didn't.

We are not saying that Federer's forehand is absolutely perfect, but that it the best forehand, which is very different.

Fed lost a lof of key matches against Nadal while in his prime (I wouldn't attribute it to the weakness of his forehand though), in part because he also made too many errors.

You can argument like this for all forehand. Nadal didn't lost matches against Gonzales, Blake, Tsonga, Djokovic, Federer, Davydenko because he made too many errors, but because he wasn't aggressive enough with it and ended being aggressed by theirs.
 

THE FIGHTER

Hall of Fame
forcing unforced errors? I know he's good but, really? On a more serious note, the main thing I look when considering such things is how well a player can use the stroke (fh in this case) to dictate points under extreme pressure like bp down or serving out a set. Federer's forehand is definitely up there, but most people tend to forget the times his FH screws up. It's as if Federer and ******** are two different players. Newsflash: they are one and the same.

until late in his career, federer's forehand/ serve+forehand spared him from getting too breakpoint down to often. he was a machine when it came to dictating play and capitalizing.

performing well under extreme pressure speaks more of mental fortitude than stroke quality. performing well consistently, day in and day out speaks of stroke quality.
 

timnz

Legend
From a purely technical aspect (and the ability to hit winners)

Here are my picks:

1. Roger Federer (best cross-court forehand/best down the line forehand)
2. Fernando Gonzalez (best combination of pace and spin)
3. James Blake (fastest overall forehand)
4. Juan Martin del Potro (best inside-out forehand)
5. Rafael Nadal (heaviest forehand)
6. Pete Sampras (best running forehand/best inside-in forehand)
7. Andre Agassi (best forehand return)
8. Robin Soderling (most consistently deep forehand)
9. Novak Djokovic (best at changing directions)
10. Jim Courier*

*I put Jim Courier on the list because he pretty much invented the modern, American style of baseline play, in which players rely primarily on the full western grip forehand as their main weapon. Players that have copied this style are Andy Roddick, John Isner, Ryan Harrison, and Jack Sock. They all pretty much hit the same kind of forehand, which is BIG, but not necessarily the best.

Any list that doesn't have Lendl in the top 5 (or even top 3) needs to be re-examined. Djokovic is solid on the forehand but not on the all time great list. Couriers only great forehand was his inside-out forehand (he excelled at that but didn't have that strength on a running forehand).

Federer is exceptional on the inside-out forehand, I don't think his running forehand or his cross court forehand are as strong (that is relatively speaking - they are still really good shots). Lendl was able to hit inside out, had a phenomenal running forehand and an amazing inside-in forehand (hit from the ad court down the line) as well as cross court forehand. It was basically a beast that could do anything.
 

mbm0912

Hall of Fame
This is a good list. The only thing I would change is possibly taking Djokovic off (his forehand as a standalone shot is not incredibly good, just good) and I would move Nadal's up to 2 or 3.

Also, Blake had a scary forehand, but it was not always consistent. Del Potro may have a better overall forehand, even though blake hits it a bit harder sometimes.

Nah, mate. Djoker's forehand is highly underrated. I do agree with moving Nadal up though.
 
1. Federer
2. Nadal
3. Lendl
4. Agassi
5. Sampras
6. Becker
7. Laver
8. Del Potro
9. Courier
10. Gonzales

If Agassi had a better forehand than Courier (let alone 5 spots better) he wouldnt have lost 6 times in a row to him. After all what else did Courier have on him potentially.
 

Graf=GOAT

Professional
If Agassi had a better forehand than Courier (let alone 5 spots better) he wouldnt have lost 6 times in a row to him. After all what else did Courier have on him potentially.

What does H2H have to do with it? By that logic, Nadal's FH is better than Fed's, which we all know isn't true.
 
What does H2H have to do with it? By that logic, Nadal's FH is better than Fed's, which we all know isn't true.

1. No not all feel Federers forehand is better than Nadals as some of the lists on this thread prove.

2. Nadal is a totally different case anyhow as his forehand plays to others backhands, and his backhand to others forehands.

3. Nadal is a better mover than Federer, better overall defender, has a better backhand, arguably has a better return, and is mentally tougher, so there are ways he can regularly beat Federer even if you think his forehand isnt as good. Courier has nothing on Agassi except possibly the forehand really. The only way for Courier to beat Agassi that many times in a row was for his forehand to be the best, and for Agassi to stubbornly try and beat him by outslugging him off the forehand side and fail (which is precisely what happened).
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Fail list with S.Williams having #5 forehand of all time.

If we are only considering the past 3 decades or so, Serena possibly belongs in the top 2 or 3. Steffi at #1 is no stretch. Possible tossup between Monica S and Serena. I would not have a problem with either ahead of the other.

Can't say that I know much about the relative strengths of of the FHs of Maureen Connolly and Helen Wills Moody except that both had feared FHs and dominated in the wood era. The 70s also had some strong contenders with Marita Redondo, Sue Barker and honorable mention to Martina N. Not easy at all to compare Serena to eras prior to Steffi.
.
 
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What was considered Seles's better side? Forehand or backhand. I always thought it was the backhand by a hair, but both sides were amazing at her peak.

I do think Serena has a top 5 womens forehand all time easily though, and possibly top 3. Graf is the unquestioned #1. Wills Moody and Connolly would have to be given a very high ranking. Those would probably be the top 5 in some order. Court, Navratilova, Barker, Pierce, Capriati, Henin, Clijsters, Davenport, Gibson, Richey, Evert, could all be possbly placed somewhere in the top 10.
 

Graf=GOAT

Professional
If we are only considering the past 3 decades or so, Serena certainly belongs in the top 2 or 3. Steffi at #1 is no stretch. Possible tossup between Monica S and Serena. I would not have a problem with either ahead of the other.

Can't say that I know much about the relative strengths of of the FHs of Maureen Connolly and Helen Wills Moody except that both had feared FHs and dominated in the wood era. The 70s also had some strong contenders with Marita Redondo, Sue Barker and honorable mention to Martina N. Not easy at all to compare Serena to eras prior to Steffi.

prime Henin had a wicked FH, it was more fearsome than her BH actually, despite BH being more flashing being a one hander.

I'd rate Ivanovic's and Henin's FHs as better shots than Serena's
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
^ Confused. I had previously assumed that you had thought that Serena at #5 was too low. From this latest response, it sounds like you might be saying that Serena does not even belong in the top 5 at all. In addition to the other players mentioned by you, me and rockandroll, we might also consider Venus W, Sam Stosur, Li Na, Lindsay Davenport, Sania Mirza, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova.

Where would YOU put Serena compared to all who have been mentioned?
 

Graf=GOAT

Professional
^ Confused. I had previously assumed that you had thought that Serena at #5 was too low. From this latest response, it sounds like you might be saying that Serena does not even belong in the top 5 at all. In addition to the other players mentioned by you, me and rockandroll, we might also consider Venus W, Sam Stosur, Li Na, Lindsay Davenport, Sania Mirza, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova.

Where would YOU put Serena compared to all who have been mentioned?

She doesn't belong in top 5 forehands of all time, it's not an amazing shot, prone to breaking down and lacks variety and spins. Of all the players you mentioned, only Li, Sharapova and Venus have worse. Mirza, Stosur, Kvitova, Davenport, Ivanovic, Henin all have better FH's. Of course Graf is on another level entirely. She's the Federer of WTA tour as far as FH's go.
 
From a purely technical aspect (and the ability to hit winners)

Here are my picks:

1. Roger Federer (best cross-court forehand/best down the line forehand)
2. Fernando Gonzalez (best combination of pace and spin)
3. James Blake (fastest overall forehand)
4. Juan Martin del Potro (best inside-out forehand)
5. Rafael Nadal (heaviest forehand)
6. Pete Sampras (best running forehand/best inside-in forehand)
7. Andre Agassi (best forehand return)
8. Robin Soderling (most consistently deep forehand)
9. Novak Djokovic (best at changing directions)
10. Jim Courier*

*I put Jim Courier on the list because he pretty much invented the modern, American style of baseline play, in which players rely primarily on the full western grip forehand as their main weapon. Players that have copied this style are Andy Roddick, John Isner, Ryan Harrison, and Jack Sock. They all pretty much hit the same kind of forehand, which is BIG, but not necessarily the best.
Another pretty spot on list posted years ago.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Gonzales and Blake hit the ball really hard, so did JMDP
Nobody hit their FH harder regularly than Andre, but there's much more to the shot than merely pace. People always praise Del Po's FH and it was a rocket, sure.... but he hit it into the net or long an awful lot of them time. Andre actually got his FH in the court after 1987.
 
Nadal’s forehand is #1 on clay, virtually never breaking down & capable of inflicting unrelenting damage; Federer’s forehand is equal #1 for being such a devastating one off finishing shot, particularly off of clay, where stand alone winners are easier to come by.
 
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